


Extremis Infinitum.

by NikkiDeez



Series: APEX Team Epsilon [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Andromeda Initiative, Apex - Freeform, F/M, Nexus - Freeform, Post-Mass Effect: Andromeda, background & cameo characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 19:34:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12871518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikkiDeez/pseuds/NikkiDeez
Summary: Her name is Mya, but everyone knows her as Death. Once she was a member of BAaT. Then she was a soldier for the Alliance. Next she became a mercenary. And now? In this strange new galaxy? Now she assumes a new identity... one of a hero. Forced to lead her own APEX team, as well as team up with a Angara Heskaarl operative, Mya finds herself ordered to hunt down a dangerous fanatic bent of destroying the fragile world around her. But with a dark and tortured past, Mya struggles to not be the monster the world had made her out to be, and become the hero she now has a chance to become.Original character, set near End/Post-Game.PLEASE READ AND LEAVE A KUDOS! Comments welcome!!!





	Extremis Infinitum.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mya wakes up from 600 years in cryo, only to find out that she's expected to do more then just kill people.

It all started with the hiss of coolant.

A rush of air, filling lungs. Blood warmed. Muscles flexed. Organs awakened. A heart started to pound. And finally, after a few tense seconds, eyes the color of amber blinked, then opened, the world slow at first, sluggish, but slowly it snapped into focus.

Her name was Mya Rodriguez, but she was better known as La Muerte. Death in human form.

To most Mya was a mystery. Most would just see your typical, ‘run of the mill’ human female. But she was far more. A biotic prodigy, she had trained along with the first human biotics in BAaT. Then she became a Corsair with the Alliance military… only to wash out and become one of the Milky Way’s most infamous mercenaries. But you wouldn’t think that if you looked at her. Your eyes would show you otherwise.

Instead you would someone who could only be described as ‘damaged.’

Mya was short, but not very skinny. Only standing at around 5’3 feet, she had the heavy build of someone who worked out often, with wide, muscular shoulders and hips, and long, strong arms. Various scars and tribal tattoos covered her bare arms. She also had various piercings lining both of her ears, and several on her right eyebrow, and one on her lip and nose. Her skin was a honey tan in color, and her facial features hinted at her mixed heritage, possibly Native American, possibly Latin, possibly Asian, or maybe a mix of the three. Mya had shoulder-length black hair that was shaved on the left side, which she had highlighted with streaks of gun metal grey. With large, luminous upturned, almond-shaped amber eyes, high cheek bones, a long nose that had an odd ‘boxers’ tilt to it, wide nostrils and thick lips, the most noticeable detail was the scars that ran down the left side of her face. Long and jagged, they ran from the left side of her temple down to her lips, giving her a permanent sneer, the scars making her look crude and base, like an ancient warrior brought to life.

‘Beautiful,’ wasn’t a word that came to mind when describing Mya. Instead most used words like ‘savage,’ or ‘striking.’ But not beautiful. _Never_ beautiful. Mya didn’t fit the ‘feminine’ mold, nor did she make any effort to do so. She drank, she swore, and she smoked cigars like a chimney. Mya didn’t give a shit, and it showed, from the way she spoke to the way she moved.

At first Mya had trouble making sense of what was going on around her. One eye was blurry, while the left one, which was cybernetic, was still coming online. She could hear and feel people bustling around her body, as well as felt the chill of the coolant emanating from the pod she’d been placed in. Around her people hurried about, techs checking her pulse and heart rate, others were checking the pod she was still sitting in. With trembling hands, Mya automatically reaching up to brush aside a long strand of midnight black hair, only to feel her hand pull against the handcuffs and chains that shackled her arms and feet to the pod.

Mya closed her eyes. And fought a snarl. _New galaxy. Same bullshit._

Giving her restraints a glance, Mya sighed, annoyed. _Fuck that_. There was an electrical surge, and suddenly, with a loud _zzzaap!,_ the restraints were biotically pulled apart, the restraints falling to the floor in pieces, each making a metallic _ping!, ping!_ , Ignoring the surprised gasps and stares, Mya amber eyes swept the lab with an almost predatory intensity, drinking in the details, her mind hard at work, memories welling up.

She was on the Hyperion Ark. They must have reached the Nexus. But that still did not explain why she was awake. Knowing that things were going to get complicated, Mya continued her study, her eyes finding a lone figure standing to the side, the long, tall figure decked out in glowing armor, standing there as if he belonged.

Mya smiled, flashing her teeth as if they were fangs. And privately deliberated ripping him in half. _Kill him? Or not kill him. Hmm_ … She could of course. Easily. One quick snap of her biotics, and down he’d go. Instead Mya leaned back, letting one medic check her pulse, another wordlessly handing her a mug full of steaming black coffee, Mya taking it, not bothering saying thank you. The hand that had handed her the mug had been trembling. Clearly, they knew who she was. Good thing too. She _hated_ introductions.

“Tiran Kandros. Been a while.” May said with a cough, her voice, usually a soft contralto, hoarse, her body still warming from its six-hundred-year long freeze. Sipping the coffee, Mya closed her eyes, feeling it warm its way down to her stomach, Mya almost sighing. _Mmmmm. Coffee._ “So, looks like we arrived safely.” she said affably with fake pleasantness. As if they were old friends. Which they weren’t.

Kandros glared at her, clearly not willing to play nice. And why would he? He knew _exactly_ who and what she was. Better than most. “Don’t start Mya. If it were up to me, you’d still be on ice.”

Mya arched a pierced brow at that, and drank some more of her coffee, waving away the med techs, grunting as she got to her feet, unsteady at first, the mercenary glowing for a moment, Mya automatically using her biotics to steady herself, this getting more stares from the medics, the world spinning for a moment before settling. “That makes two of us.” she grumbled. “But I’m not, am I? So, what is this about Tiran? Why wake me up?” she grumbled. After all, she’d been good and ready to spend the rest of her wasted existence on ice.

Kandros groaned, reaching up to rub his temple, the frustration emanating from him. Then he looked her square in the eyes, and said the words Mya had never expected to hear. “Ryder’s dead.”

 

**_AN HOUR LATER…_ **

Mya was showered and changed, standing in Kandros’s office, her eyes on the main screen, her amber eyes watching the video for a second time. The video? Alec Ryder dying. And for what? To save his stupid kid.

“Fucking moron.” Mya swore under her breath, and reached forward to press a button, stopping the video before turning towards the tall Turian next to her, not surprised to see Kandros giving her a wide berth. They were in his office. APEX officers surrounded them, all of them armed, all of them aiming their guns at her… And Mya couldn’t care less. Instead she glared back at the image on the screen, her amber eyes vacant. “How long ago was this?” Mya asked glumly.

Kandros glared at the screen, no doubt hating the whole conversation. “Four standard months ago. His kid, Sarah, became Pathfinder after him. She’s done a pretty good job, so far. Took over his duties in establishing the Golden Worlds. Got our first big settlement set up. Made contact with a local alien species…”

Mya snorted, amused, hearing the admiration in the Turian’s voice. “Well, if she’s so wonderful, what’d you wake me for?” she teased, turning to Kandros and arching a pierced brow. God, she’d miss messing with him. Truly, it’d been the best thing about being incarcerated.

Kandros glowered, and pressed a button, the screen changing, revealing some kind of alien, Mya frowning, not recognizing it. Muscular, human-like body structure. Big heads with weird folds on the sides. Strange purplish skin. Huge blue eyes. And it was clearly very dead, deep blue ichor splattered all over the floor, Mya eyeing the picture curiously.

“That’s an Angara.” Kandros started.

“You say that like I’m supposed to understand what it means.” Mya replied snidely.

Kandros gave her a sour look, his mandibles flaring, and Mya smiled. _Yup. Would never get old._

“They’re the local alien species here in Andromeda. Sarah Ryder established contact with them and managed to make them our allies against the Kett, another alien species from the Helios cluster.”

Mya crossed her arms over her chest, her face becoming thoughtful, finding herself feeling curious, despite herself. “The Kett are not friendly, I take it.”

Kandros nodded once. “That’s an understatement.” he grumbled, pressing another button, the picture on the screen changing, showing a new picture of another alien, this one with bony plates lining it’s face and body. “The Kett and the Angara have been fighting one another for centuries. Apparently the Kett plan to enslave and genetically assimilate the Angara by a process they call Exaltation. Ryder’s working on finding a way on stopping their leader, the Archon.”

Mya frowned, silent, taking everything in, her amber eyes narrowed in thought. “Is that why you woke me up? To kill this Archon dude?” Mya asked after a moment, her tone nonchalant, relaxed, as if the thought of murdering a complete stranger was no big deal. Because it was… for her at least.

Kandros shook his head, and pressed yet another button, the screen changing to another picture, this one showing pictures of two Angara, one male, the other presumably female, Mya studying them, noticing that the two had similar facial features and markings. They both also shared the same hateful scowls. Siblings perhaps?

“Meet Akksul. He was the leader of an Angaran terrorist group called the Roekaar. They **_HATE_** anything non-Angara, us included. For a while this guy was in charge, but he’s been recently deposed. His half-sister, Nakkara, has recently taken over… and they’ve got a whole lot worse.” Kandros explained, the Turian pressing a button, the picture on the screen changing once more, this time revealing photos of various beings. Three humans, a Salarian,  and two Angara, Mya’s eyes going over each face, her stomach twisting, not liking were this was going, the humor draining from her features.

Why did she get the feeling that this wasn’t going to be some simple kill job? This was something… new. Shit.

“We’ve received reports that Nakkara has been kidnapping both Initiative and Angaran scientists. We don’t know why, but we do know one thing; they’re all geneticists.” Kandros closed his eyes, and Mya saw him actually shudder. “Mya, this is serious. Before the Roekaar were a problem, but a problem we could handle. But ever since Nakkara took over, they went from bad to worse. She’s smart. Really smart. And she’s also ruthless. In the past month the Roekaar have bombed several high-priority Initiative locations. They’ve also have made several assassination attempts on important Initiative officials, myself included. We’ve tried keeping casualties down, but trying to catch her is like trying to catch the wind. We need help. We need _you_.”

Mya stood there for a few moments, tense, trying her best to ignore the desperation in Kandros’s gaze, the fear in the soldiers that surrounded them, her amber eyes hard. This wasn’t what she had expected.

For as long as she could remember, Mya had always felt like a wolf living among the sheep… and the sheep? Never really cared much for the wolf. They never asked the wolf for help. Never gave the wolf a chance to be anything more than a wolf. And now here was Kandros, at the end of his rope, desperate for aid… and of all the people he had at his disposal, he was asking _her_ , the biotic murderer queen, for help? It wasn’t like he didn’t know what she was capable of. After all, _he’d_ been the one to get her out of jail…

He must be out of his fucking mind.

 _“Why me?”_ Mya found herself asking, her voice surprisingly soft, not really knowing what to make out of all of this. “You have people Tiran. You people that can help you with this… people who aren’t…well, _me_. You have APEX. The Pathfinder Team. The Angara… Why me?” _Why the monster?_

Kandros gave her a piercing look. “Look, let’s not get things confused. I know _exactly_ who you think you are. You hammered that fact home they day I got you out of Purgatory.” Kandros growled, Mya feeling her face tighten, remembering. But then took a step forward, and leaned in close, his bright blue eyes meeting hers. “But I also know that you need a chance. This?” he said, pointing at her face, at her scars. “This was shit from _before_. But it doesn’t have to be who you are _now_. I need you because no one else can do this Mya… you get things done, hell or high water. You might like to think your some badass screw up… but read your file… and before you were a merc, you were a soldier, and a damn good one. The Alliance made a mistake when they put you with that asshole, Reynolds. That shouldn’t have happened, and the fact that you were blamed? Says a lot about the Alliance. But that was then. This is now… and I’m willing to give you a chance. Question is, are you willing to take it?”

For a long, torturous minute the two stared at one another, each daring the other to back down, neither willing to give in. A part of Mya wanted to believe Kandros, wanted to… hope. But hope was a seductive thing. It promised many things, and for her it promised her one thing; change. But Mya wasn’t naïve. She’d been let down before, by others who’d also painted her a pretty picture. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to fall for it. Paint a pretty picture for the monster, and the monster will put away her fangs? I don’t think so.

“Did Alec Ryder install a SAM implant into my head?” she asked after a moment, her tone harsh, cutting. _Nice try Kandros._

The Turian blinked, caught off guard by her question. Then he glowered, taking a step back, not liking where this was going. “Yes. Just before you were placed into full hibernation, Alec Ryder had a Pathfinder node placed into your cerebellum. Although similar to the implants given to Ryder and his children, this implant has various safeguards in place.” Then he crossed his arms, and glowered. “But that’s all I know about it.” He finished, and Mya almost snarled, sensing the lie the second it left his lipless mouth.

Mya nodded, her heart starting to pound. Just before she was supposed to go into cryo, she'd noticed a medical team standing by. And she’d never forget that cryptic message that Ryder had left for her… **_obey_** _the Initiative_. **_Always_**. “Mmhm. That’s what I thought. SAM? You here?” Mya called, turning, watching as the blue glob of light appeared before them, Mya eying it, her gaze daggers. “SAM, what were Alec’s instructions for me, should I ever be released from cryo?”

SAM bloomed and his dull, neutral voice filled the room. **_“Alec’s Ryder’s instructions were as stated; should Initiative Administrative personal ever have need of her skills, Mya Rodriquez is to report to the security administrator in charge, and he or she are to dictate and oversee her complete compliance to Initiative commands.”_**

Tiran muttered a swear word.

“Hm. Complete compliance, huh? And tell me SAM, what happens if I don’t ‘comply?’ What happens to me?”

_**“A security parameter will be put into effect; should you ever disobey a direct order from an Initiative administrator, or should you ever attack an Initiative member, the neural implant in your cerebellum will release an electrical charge which, should you resist, will increase until you are brain dead and perish.”** _

SAM fell silent, and Mya watched as Tiran squirmed, his mandibles flaring and his eyes not willing to meet hers. “You were saying?” Mya said pointedly.

Kandros growled, but then looked up. “SAM, do I have authority to remove the security protocols placed on Mya’s implant?”

_**“Yes, with a verbal conformation, should the Initiative administrator have clearance, the safety protocols can be removed. You have clearance.”** _

Kandros nodded and turned towards Mya, his long arms crossing over his armored chest, a smug look coming to his face. Mya scowled. Aw crap. “Sounds like you need me, Rodriquez.” He said with a grin. Mya groaned. Audibly. And Kandros’s smile broadened. “Want to make a deal?” he said flippantly.

Mya sighed. Ugh. Talk about painting yourself into a corner. “Let me guess; I do what you want, you take off the protocols?” she asked, her voice tight.

“I’ll do more than that. Accept this mission, and if you succeed, I’ll make sure you don’t have to go back to cryo once it’s done.”

And just like that, the woman once called death was tamed. Mya knew that life wouldn’t be the same after this, which she suspected was what Ryder ultimately intended. She was committed to this new world, this new galaxy… like it or not.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SAM: Short for Simulated Adaptive Matrix, SAM is an artificial intelligence designed by Alec Ryder himself.


End file.
